Energy Solutions Forum Presents Paul Veers

Wind Energy has, by many measures, been a tremendous success. Wind has grown from a smattering of installations at the beginning of the century to supplying over 10% of all electricity demand in the United States. The history of this development has moved through stages where success first depended on simple survival to where it currently delivers the bulk of a region's electricity for periods of time. Each generation creates new demands on the system, while progress is made by engineering around the scientific unknowns. Wind turbines and plants are stretching to such enormous sizes and high levels of grid penetration that new challenges have emerged. Unless these challenges are addressed the promise of wind energy to be a foundation of the clean energy system of the future will be limited. The Grand Challenges in the science of wind energy are briefly outlined and recent progress is summarized.

Paul Veers is a Senior Research Fellow for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the Chief Engineer at NREL's National Wind Technology Center. For twelve years he was the Chief Editor for the journal Wind Energy. Paul received the European Academy of Wind Energy's Scientific Award 2016 for his leadership in wind energy, and the NREL Chairman's Award for sustained research excellence in 2018. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and is the Executive Director of the North American Wind Energy Academy. Paul has a BS and MS in Engineering Mechanics from the University of Wisconsin and received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University in 1987.

This talk is part of a series designed to bring together leading researchers across disciplines in science, engineering and business to advance understanding of solutions-focused topics relating to climate and energy.

Parking is available in the Brian Whalen Parking Complex (on Virgina Street near Lawlor).

Visit our website for more information about the series and its past speakers.

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